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"My reference was to innocent people being shot by an armed citizen acting in defense of himself or others."
Ever hear the name, Travon Martin? Yoshihiro Hattori? The 15-year-old daughter of David Page? Or even worse, Matilda Crabtree? Her last words to her doting father who had just shot her unintentionally were, "I love you daddy." All she did was jump out of the closet saying 'Boo!'.

You don't hear of these things because you're not listening. You care more about swaggering around with a gun in order to prevent some fantasyland event, than about the real tragedies that occur. Shootings don't occur because we're awash in knives or swords or bows and arrows. Drive-by shootings don't involve spears. And otherwise well-meaning people who have unintentionally killed using guns probably no longer share your sentiment. I suspect they no longer share your fantasy.

PHOENIX (AP) A 14-year-old boy shot and nearly killed an intruder who broke into his Phoenix home and pulled a gun on him while he was watching his three younger siblings, police said Saturday.

The teen and his siblings, ages 8, 10 and 12, were at home alone when a woman rang the doorbell Friday afternoon, Phoenix police Officer James Holmes said.

The teen didn't open the door because he didn't recognize the woman.

Soon after, the teen heard a loud bang on the door, rushed his siblings upstairs and got a handgun from his parent's bedroom.

When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a man break through the front door and point a gun at him.

The boy shot the 37-year-old man, who was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition and underwent surgery. The man was upgraded to critical condition and is expected to survive and be booked into jail within the week on counts of aggravated assault and burglary, Holmes said.

He said the suspect did not get a shot off. He declined to release his name until he is booked into jail.

The woman who rang the home's doorbell got away.

Holmes hailed the teen's actions and his parents for teaching the kids to never open the door to strangers.

"The police and indeed our community does not ever want to see a situation where a teenager of that age has to take a weapon to protect his family but this young man did exactly what he should have done," he said. "I'm not sure he gave full thought about what he had to do. He just acted."

Holmes said that the gun the teen grabbed was his father's, but did not know whether the boy had been trained to use it.

He said the family, whose names were not released, is declining to speak to reporters about the ordeal, saying that they "are all pretty traumatized."

"The dad was pretty much out of his mind with distress, officers couldn't even talk to him," Holmes said. "It's going to take them a while to recover mentally."

He said police don't yet know what the suspect's intentions were and that will be one of the first questions they ask him when he is well enough to talk.

"This was mid-block in a neighborhood, at 4:30 in the afternoon in summertime and children are there," he said. "They just took a heck of a gamble for this particular house, and we've got to try to figure out why."

Holmes added that the family is lucky that the teen acted so swiftly and effectively.

"As ugly as this is, and as much as this family is going through, we don't have injured children on our hands," he said.

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"Obviously, accidents do occur with guns, as they do with automobiles and bannana peels. But we have banned neither cars nor fruit."

If the purpose of bananas and cars was to kill people, and if people were being killed, there might just be some regulation. And with cars of course there is considerable regulation, and with no complaining about it.

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Well it depends on whether children are taught about guns or not doesn't it? I had a conversation with my sister-in-law this weekend who is unhappy that her 13 year old son has a pocket knife. It scares her to death. He might get hurt. It worries me a little too, because he isn't in scouts and he hasn't learned how to handle, care for or respect a knife like a 7 year old Cub Scout does.

Pack, for every horror story you can produce with guns, a story of how they were used to defend someone can be produced. While guns can be used for offense, they can equally be used for defense. Education is key. Taking guns away from lawful citizens leaves them at the mercy of the criminal who ignores such laws. Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation and they've had 500 homicides in 2012. Would people owning guns for self defense act a sa deterrent. Probably. Criminals always look for a soft target.

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"Well it depends on whether children are taught about guns or not doesn't it? "

Well why bother with armed police or specially trained teachers in classrooms. Let' s simply train children about guns and let them defend themselves. If 14 year old can carry, should 12 year old? What would be the recommended cut off age for children to carry in school? If any?

As

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I'm searching through the internet trying to find where the NRA says it's a good idea to leave children alone at home with unsecured loaded guns. Someone help me out here. There MUST be something to this effect in their gun safety literature.

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scoutingagain: "Well why bother with armed police or specially trained teachers in classrooms. Let' s simply train children about guns and let them defend themselves. If 14 year old can carry, should 12 year old? What would be the recommended cut off age for children to carry in school? If any?"

I challenge you to show where I suggested children carry guns. Do you as a scouter teach children how to responsibly build a fire and maintain it without burning down a forest? Do you not think fire can be deadly? Do you not teach children how to cook where a pot of boiling water can be knocked off onto someone? Do you not teach a child how to handle knives and woods tools responsibly? Do you not think as knife or axe can be deadly? Do you not teach children how to hike in areas with animals such as bears and cougars? You may be surprised to learn, but the BSA teaches responsible shooting and gun safety. Why we go so far as to not allow paintball or lasertag because it teaches to point a weapon at a person instead of a target. I never said anything about allowing children to carry guns to school. What I did mention was taching someone to use a tool in a safe and responsible manner. Doesn't mater if it is a pocket knife, the stove at home or a jig saw.

I know this, I want my child to have a fighting chance at survival instead of leaving him to be a victim. Call me old fashioned, but throwing your arms up and begging for mercy isn't the best defense in the world.

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"According to the FBI annual crime statistics, the number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs far outnumbers the number of murders committed with a rifle."
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/01/03/FBI-More-People-Killed-With-Hammers-and-Clubs-Each-Year-Than-With-Rifles?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_c ampaign=Feed%3A+BigGovernment+%28Big+Government%29